Making, serving and training Christ's ambassadors to the nations through the local church in Ireland.

Since 1981, we have been serving with WorldVenture in evangelism, church planting and leadership development on two different continents. We first served in Kenya for 14 years, where we worked with the Digo people, an unreached Muslim tribe, until 1996. Then in 1997, with Lithuania's independence and Michael's own Lithuanian heritage, we redeployed to open the field for WorldVenture in Lithuania. By 2012 (15 years later), we felt that the Lithuanian leadership had become very capable of continuing this ministry on their own, so we began to consider other possibilities of ministry.

Upon invitation from WorldVenture Ireland’s field, we made a vision trip to Galway, Ireland, to consider becoming part of the pastoral staff of a church plant. At the church we were met by a most diverse community of Christians. The congregation is made up of 19 different cultures and consists of many Africans and Eastern Europeans, as well as other internationals and a minority of Irish.

A recent survey shows that to a large degree, the evangelical church in Ireland has been growing as a result of immigration as non-nationals have moved into Ireland over the past 15 years. But the people who make up the evangelical churches only represent around 1% of the population. That represents the lowest percentage of evangelical believers in the English-speaking world. So the needs are tremendous!

We feel that our time in Africa and Eastern Europe has helped prepare us for this very work in order to understand and minister to these people and encourage these internationals who have made Ireland their new home to reach out to the Irish around them. We have now been serving in Galway since September 2012.
 

We serve the people in Western Uganda struggling with disease and poverty.
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Elizabeth and I met in college and got married in January '02. I had received my Bachelor's Degree in Nursing in the spring of the previous year. For the past ten years, I have been working at a local hospital gaining valuable experience (and children). We have two boys and two girls: Nathaniel, Madalyn, Vivianne, and Alexander.

After the birth of our first child, God made the call to Uganda personal to me (Elizabeth). I love how the Lord can use the unusual to get our attention! When our last son was born, I began to feel restless; God was preparing me for change.

We applied to WorldVenture and were appointed in August '12 as missionaries to Uganda. Matt will be working with people in rural Uganda, teaching public health while building relationships to share the love of Christ. Elizabeth and the children will have their own opportunities to share our faith, as we interact with and become part of the community as a family.

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Rochester, New York, is 360 miles northwest of Coney Island, Brooklyn, where the Robinsons ministered for 21 years. When the Robinsons finished what God had called them to do in Coney Island – plant a church and establish ongoing outreach to the community – He then led them to Rochester. They feel privileged and excited to have this opportunity to bring Christ and His message of hope and redemption to people living in suburban government-subsidized housing developments and within the inner city of Rochester.

One way Marvin and Denise minister, among others, is inviting church groups to visit and have an opportunity to minister along with them in Bible clubs for children, open evangelism, and in projects for the elderly (home carpentry and painting, etc.).

Every spring and summer they schedule as many groups as they can in order to reach scores of children and adults with the Gospel of Jesus Christ as well as pass along the vision they have for reaching the inner city for Jesus Christ. (Anyone interested need only email or call them.)

Marvin says, “We are continually blessed by the faithfulness of God and the love and provision from His people to our ministry.”

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